'Someday Funnies' remembers the '60s

Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner initiated the project 40 years ago when he approached Choquette with the idea to create an illustrated history of the 1960s.

The contributors' list features a host of legendary names including mainstream greats like Jack Kirby and C.C. Beck, underground pioneers Jay Lynch and Art Spiegelman, European cartoonist Rene Goscinny and individuals from outside the industry including Red Grooms, Tom Wolfe, William Burroughs, Federico Fellini and Frank Zappa.

In three years, Choquette's project developed from a supplement in Rolling Stone into a book of 129 comics strips. When Wenner abandoned the project, its creator sought a publishing deal with Harper which eventually fell through.

The Someday Funnies was all but forgotten until an article by Bob Levin in the Comics Journal in 2009 brought it renewed attention.

"It's this time capsule of the sixties," Charlie Kochman, the editorial director of Abrams ComicArts told ICv2. "It's the most amazing thing. I feel like this is kind of the 'Holy Grail' of comics. I heard about this project a lot over the years.

"When I was working with Mark Evanier on the Kirby book, I mentioned that I had heard that Kirby had done something for this project, and he said, 'Yeah, I don't think that really exists, nobody's ever seen it.' But sure enough it does, and I've held the original Kirby art in my hands."

The book will be printed in a format slightly larger than DC Comics' oversized Wednesday Comics and will be released in November.